WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Human Resource Initiative for a Legal Workforce today urged Wisconsin state legislators to reject A.B. 712 and S.B. 404, two of a series of immigration reform bills pending before the Wisconsin Legislature that would punish employers for not responding within 30 days to the receipt of a "no-match" letter from the federal government.

No-match letters are issued by the Social Security Administration when an employee's name does not match his or her social security number. However, the "no-match" requirement has been suspended by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), pending the outcome of a legal challenge to the constitutionality of the program.

The HR Initiative for a Legal Workforce, representing thousands of Wisconsin employers, believes that the federal government, and not the states, should be responsible for establishing the requirements for verifying employment eligibility under our nation's immigration laws.

In a letter to all state legislators, the group stated: "Although well-intentioned, if this legislation were to become law, the resulting state mandate requiring compliance with the DHS "no-match" requirements would place Wisconsin employers in a "Catch-22" situation by breaking federal immigration law to comply with state "no-match" law requirements. In addition, when added to numerous other state and local ordinances aimed at deterring illegal immigration, Wisconsin would only add to a confusing and ineffective patchwork of federal and state laws that are proving impossible for employers to follow."

The HR Initiative for a Legal Workforce includes:

-- American Council on International Personnel

-- College and University Professional Association for Human Resources

The Human Resource Initiative for a Legal Workforce (www.legal-workforce.org) represents human resource professionals in thousands of small and large U.S. employers representing every sector of the American economy. The HR Initiative and its members are seeking to improve the current process of employment verification by creating a secure, efficient and reliable system that will ensure a legal workforce and help prevent unauthorized employment, a root cause of illegal immigration.